


Karmy One shots

by TaraTyler



Category: Faking It (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2018-04-28 20:53:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5105378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraTyler/pseuds/TaraTyler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>drabbles and mini fics about these precious idiots</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Break

After their seventh or eight public 'break up' Amy Raudenfield finally put her foot down and refused to play along with her best friend, Karma Ashcroft's, dramatics anymore. The redhead had been allowed to toy with Amy's feelings for much too long. It had all ended at the beginning of their senior year. In the following semester Amy's grades had risen just as much as her social standing had fallen. Her relationship with her step sister, Lauren, had improved as well when all of her attention wasn't being poured into her crush, however hopeless, on Karma. 

Her newfound love of reading had also begun to flourish, introducing Amy to a whole new scene that was ten times better than partying with Karma as the school’s power couple. The worst part for Amy was probably disappointing their fans, the Karmy Army, and the dieing out of the Karmy friendship. Amy hadn’t seen Karma in ages, except for in her head constantly...and on the school’s Tumblr account...and right now, on the stage, staring straight at her from across the cafe’/bookshop.

“The hell?” she mutters to herself in confusion as she tries to convince herself that she’s imagining her childhood friend on perched on the stool with a guitar on her knee.

Sadly, Karma was real, and her eyes never left Amy as the blonde did her absolute best to pretend that Karma wasn’t there as she tried to find the book that she wanted.

This was only the first time.

\-----/////-----

Over the next few weeks Amy and Karma would bump awkwardly into one another over and over again at the quaint little hangout. Karma’s eyes would pierce into Amy constantly as long as she could see her and Amy would try to ignore the burning and the ache in the heart where Karma used to be. Only once did Amy sit and listen while she pretended to read, but it hurt too much when she would think about how every song was about Liam, that she would never have that place in Karma’s life.

“Amy, wait! Why won’t you talk to me?” Karma shouts as Amy walks away after one of Karma’s sets. Seeing her ex-best friend at her old hangout had become par for the course, no matter how she wished it wasn’t so.

“Why should I?” Amy asks, hugging her book close to her chest as though it were a shield.

“Just tell me what I did so I can fix it! I miss you, Ames. I miss us.” Karma protests for just so long as she can hold Amy’s attention.

“Don’t even try. You have no clue of who I am anymore. You see me maybe twice a week while you’re singing songs about your doucheface boyfriend. I’ve changed, Karma. I’ve grown up and if you don’t know what you’ve done to me then you aren’t worth the effort anyways.” Amy explains tiredly as she pushes long blonde hair out of her face. Karma can see that she is obviously exhausted. 

“You clearly haven’t payed any attention, I don’t think that Liam has ‘long blonde hair’ do you?” she chuckles awkwardly.

“...so it’s just another publicity stunt, then? Are you pretending to be gay again to make yourself seem interesting?” Amy struggles to hold onto her anger and hurt.

“To be completely honest, I don’t really know what I am anymore?” Karma poses as though it were a question to the universe, glancing up at the sky.

“Later, Amy.”

\-----/////-----

After pondering the incident for a few days and losing even more sleep than was becoming normal, Amy went to her two main sources of information, Shane and Lauren.

“Ooh, Girl, you look like a trainwreck on legs.” Shane groans when he sees her.

“So, I’ve been trying to tell her, but she listens to no one. I think that she has actually managed to lose even more weight.” Lauren adds.

“Tell me everything.” Amy orders, ignoring their commentary completely.

\------//////------

“So, out of that mess, I’m getting that Karma and Liam broke up. Karma is confused about anything and everything. She’s depressed like you are convinced that I am and she has been throwing herself into her music and work to sort things out. Plus, in your opinion, she has feelings for me” Amy sorts the information out out loud. “Why couldn’t you have just said that.” she groans.

\------/////------

After some careful consideration of the facts, something that Amy had been working on lately, considering facts before acting. In conclusion, Amy decided that she actually was going to have to listen to Karma’s songs , analyze the lyrics and use that to get into her former best friend’s head.

\-----/////-----

Karma was in a better head space than she ever remembered having been in before. The only thing that would make it better would be Amy, as her girlfriend, her significant other and her partner. However, it wasn’t this new Amy that she wanted. She wanted her Amy back. This Amy looked sad, tired, and sick. this Amy looked like she was hiding in a book and not sleeping, for fear of what she would see. This Amy was also staring two twin holes into Karma, and was scaring her just a bit. This Amy was waiting for her when Karma had wrapped up after her set.

“What do you want, Karma?” Amy asked for not the first time.

“You. I want you in my life again.” It had taken her a while to decided on that answer, but now she knew it for a sure thing.

“In what respect?” Amy looked like she was about to fall over.

“We can discuss that part once you look a little bit more Amy and a little less ‘The Walking Dead’.” Karma skirts her answer, not wanting to spring all of that on her just yet. She slips an arm around Amy’s waist and guides her home.


	2. Summer Camp

“Hey Karma, how awesome is this?” Amy asks, her Camp Takota t-shirt on and a truly dorky fanny pack fastened around her waist.  
“I hate the outdoors.” Karma immediately complains as she swats at a bug on her arm. “Those awful little things just won’t leave me alone.”  
“Bug spray, Karm. Just wear the bug spray.” Amy recommends, looping her arm through her best friend’s.   
“No, that stuff is disgusting.”  
“Exactly. That is why the mosquitoes. Stay away from it.”  
“No, that stuff is disgusting.”  
“Exactly. That is why the mosquitoes stay away from it.”  
“No. Plus, it’s so hot here, and the kids are mean and never want to do what I say, and the humidity is doing terrible things to my hair, and the lake water is much too dirty to swim in.” Karma continues.  
“Well, I love it. I loved it when we were little and I love it now.” Amy says with a happy grin. Karma can’t help but to like the camp just a little bit more just for bringing this out in Amy. The blonde hadn’t smiled like this even once since the break-up with Reagan.  
“That’s alright for you, but I just want to take a bath and sleep in my own bed.” Karma sighs.  
“Remember, this is going to look great on our college apps.” Amy adds.  
“Well, yeah, there is that.” Karma begrudgingly agrees, flashing her best and most charming grin at her best friend.   
“Don’t forget that our cabins have canoeing together this afternoon before the campfire.” Amy reminds her before running off to grab a tray with her little girls in line for breakfast. Karma didn’t know how to tell Amy that she really didn’t remember how or have a single clue of how to operate a canoe, much less of how to teach little people how to use one. the food, at least, was halfway decent. From her table with her own girls, Karma watched Amy talk animatedly with the children around her. She had no idea of how she did it.  
“Are you ladies excited for your day?” Karma asked, trying to do what Amy was doing.  
“Hm.”  
“I guess.” and   
“Sure.” were the best of the answers that she got, unless you counted the ten year old who shot her the bird.  
“We are going canoeing with Coach Amy and her girls this afternoon before the group campfire, so that should be fun.” Karma pressed on, and the little heads started to pop up.  
“I’ve heard that she’s pretty good.” one girl commented.  
“Her cabin always seems to be having the best time.” someone else adds, and Karma rolls her eyes.  
“That’s my best friend for you.” she grumbles.  
“You and Coach Amy know one another? Like, outside of camp?” the little one, Becca, asks.  
“We’ve been friends since we were younger than you. Even before you were born.” Karma laughs. “We were campers together here when we were your age.” she pokes Becca on the nose when she says ‘your’ and makes her giggle. Finally she felt as though she were getting somewhere.  
“What cabin were you in?”  
“Were you friends before camp or did you become friends at camp?”  
“Do you go to the same school?”  
“Where do you live?”  
“How old are you?”  
“Why are you so different?”  
“Do either of you have a boyfriend?” all of the tweeny-boppers seize the opening and bombard her with question, finally beginning to feel comfortable with their counselor. Carefully, Karma fielded their questions, trying not to allow them too large of a peck into her personal life or Amy’s. Or their combined personal lives for that matter.  
“Are you dating one another?” pipes up a small voice from the back of the table at the end, practically hidden from Karma’s line of sight. The voice belonged to one of Karma’s oldest girls, dark-haired and bright eyed with curiosity, a tomboy like how Karma remembered a younger Amy had been. She had worn cargo or basketball shorts every day throughout the summer so far, with several different graphic tshirts. Sam was rough and tumble, all tangled hair and skinned knees. Karma had found that when she couldn’t find Sam, her best bet was to look up and into the trees.  
“Um…” Karma started, unsure of how much information was too much information.  
“See? I told you that she spent way too much of her time staring over at coach Amy’s table.” Sam laughed as her table echoed with clearly scandalized gasps.  
“Alright, how about this, I’ll tell you the story if you guys are good for me all day long, okay? It can be like a bedtime story for you.” Karma suggests, unsure of how she had managed to get herself into such a sticky situation. It seemed to be a developing theme for her. if something could possibly get more awkward for her, it did.  
“So, I’ll see you later, then?” Amy stops by her table to ask.  
“Awwhhh!” little girls cooed while some of their less mature cohorts made kissing sounds at them. Amy looks mildly confused but takes the weirdness in stride.  
“Yeah, I’ll see you at the lake.” Karma replies as her face turns bright red to match her hair. “You guys cut that out.” she scolds her cabin knowing that there was no longer any possible way for her to get herself out of this one.  
\-----/////------  
“Last call on braids before we head out to the pool! Last chance to get your hair braided!” Amy shouts to her girls as she rubs sunscreen into her pale skin. She burned incredibly easily and was not looking forward to the way she sure to start resembling a tomato.  
“Do you think that Karma has figured out about how badly you are crushing on her, yet?” a little blonde named Wendy asked. She was probably the most perceptive twelve year old that Amy had ever met and had pretty much figured out her entire life’s story by the end of the first night. It had very much come as a shock when the kid had asked her, in front of the entire group, how long she had known that she was gay. At that point Amy had decided that she wanted to die.  
She had been even more surprised to discover that nowadays, tweens were a lot more ‘woke’ than they have been in the past, and don’t take shit from anybody. It was most certainly a pleasant surprise. The kids had been understanding about how torn up Amy had been after her breakup with Reagan and had listened patiently as she sat there like a complete idiot and poured out her heart to them. It had actually felt pretty nice. Almost therapeutic even.  
“I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t think so. Dating Reagan was supposed to help me get over her. I ended up picking her over that anyways.” Amy says with a sigh as Wendy braids Amy’s hair back into a fishtail for her. The other girls changed their clothes and waited like the good kids that they are.  
“It could just be a sign that the two of you are just meant to be.” Someone else adds. This is met by many sounds of agreement.  
“Karma straight, though. Remember? She has had every opportunity to tell me that she shares my feelings, but she hasn’t. She is, most likely, still in love with Liam Booker.” Amy replies with a hint of disgust in her voice. She really can’t stand Liam Booker.  
“Maybe Karma just doesn’t know how to feel. She sound like a very indecisive person to me. The kind of person who doesn’t actually figure out what they want until it is too late.” Wendy says thoughtfully.  
“Too late like already invested into another relationship, too late.”  
“Too late like hooking up with Reagan, too late.” someone else pipes up.  
“I don’t understand why you ladies are so invested in my love life anyway. It’s not really any of your business.”  
“We are too young to have our own love lives yet. We must live vicariously through you until we have grown up a bit more.” Wendy answers. For some reason she always has an answer for everything.  
“All right, you weirdos. Are you ready to go swimming?” Amy asks, just to change the subject as she stands up and fixes her giant floppy hat onto her head.  
“Yeah!” they all cheer and race out of the front door. she sighs and follows them out. Not a big fan of the pool, she wasn’t looking forward to it, except for getting two watch Karma from afar. Wendy took her by the hand and walked with her.  
Amy really like hanging out with the kids and doing all of the things that she had enjoyed doing with Karma when she was their age. the fact that her best friend, her step-sister, and whatever Shane was to them was there with her felt pretty nice on top of it all. Right now, Lauren was the pool with her group as well. Since their parents had gotten married, she and Laura had started to get along much better than they had been.  
“Why are you moping now?” Lauren asks.  
“I’m not moping. I have resting bitch face, only sad. I’m fine.” Amy argues.  
“I would have bought it if you hadn’t said that you were fine, you know. Whenever you say that you’re fine everyone automatically knows that you aren’t in fact fine.” Lauren says as she gives her a ‘look’.  
“I don’t know. I guess that the kids are just messing with my head. It’s kind of weird.” she says as she leans back into her seat.  
“Kids have that effect on you. they don’t hold back and tell you exactly what they think.” Lauren says, thoughtfully.  
“You’re definitely right on that count.” Amy frumbles in response, she immediately perks up when Karma passes by and waves. A screech hits her ears and before anyone can blink, Amy is up and out of her seat, and halfway into the pool. The cold water rushes by her ears, shaking her whole body, as she kicks towards the little girl who was sinking.  
“Amy!” Karma shrieks, jerking to go after her friend, but getting stopped by Lauren.  
“She’s got this. we only go in if she needs the help. Otherwise we could just end up making things worse.” Lauren explains. They wait and Amy kicks to the surface. Karma rushes to the side and helps Amy out as Lauren takes Becca from her.  
“She’s breathing.” Lauren announces as Amy coughs.  
“How are you?” Karma asks as all of the other children begin to circle around her.  
“Good. I’m good.” she gasps, trying to take some steadying breaths.  
“You scared me.” Karma admits, hugging her close and even crying a little bit.  
“Hey there, now. I’m just fine. There’s no need to worry.” Amy hugged her back. “I promise. I’m not going anywhere. Lauren would kill me.” she laughs. Karma hugs her back and chuckles wetly a little bit. “Everything is a-okay.”  
“I love you.” Karma murmurs into her shoulder.  
“I love you, too.” Amy replies.  
“No, I mean that I love you, love you. Like you used to say that you loved me. Before Reagan.”  
“Yeah, and I said that I love you, too. those feelings don’t just go away.” Amy laughs and lets Karma kiss her before she kissed her back, like she meant it. It was different from how they had kissed when they were pretending to be a couple. This was hot and fiery and all consuming. Karma let out all of those feelings that she had been refraining from admitting to.


	3. Harry Potter AU

“Karma, are you going on the Hogsmeade trip today?” Amy asked, catching up with her best friend after her Potions class.  
“Yeah, I’m running low on my Chocolate frogs. Are you? I know how you are when it comes to a good Butterbeer.” Karma laughs, pulling Amy in closer and her yellow badger Hufflepuff scarf tightly against her neck to ward off the cold.  
“If you’re there, you can bet that I’ll be there too.” Amy says decisively as she pulls off her own blue and black toboggan and tugs it over Karma’s auburn hair. “Better?”  
Karma blushes and nods as she adjusts it. She loved it that Amy cared for her like that so often, but sometimes it made her feel like a little kid. Karma was self aware enough to know that she was more than a little bit scatter-brained and sometimes needed Amy to take care of her, but she also knew that she needed some opportunities to learn and grow on her own.  
“I’ll remember next time.” She tells Amy who just shoots her a knowing smile. then again, Karma’s own sock hats didn’t smell nearly as good, or as much like Amy. Together they rushed on to the joint Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff Care of Magical Creatures class.  
\-----/////-----  
“You’re a natural at that kind of stuff, Karma.” Amy says in a tone of surprise as she tries to get the little fuzz-ball-thing, called a Puff, to let her hold it. It kept snapping at her fingers and Amy couldn’t even tell where the teeth were coming from.  
Karma cradled her own against her chest with one arm and murmured softly to Amy’s before he let her pick him up and hand him to Amy. His fur bristled and Amy could tell that he was less pleased about the situation than she was. They were both there for the same exact reason; to make Karma happy. Amy rolls her eyes at the puff cutting up in the palm of her hand on Karma’s behalf, doing its best to run up her arm onto her shoulder, forcing Amy to catch him when he would fall. She stuck her tongue out at him the third time he did it, making Karma laugh even harder and coaxing out a small smile of her own.   
“You see?” she asked him. “We want the same things you and I, more of that.” she points to Karma stroking her own Puff’s fur and humming to herself. “Can the two of us work together on that, you think?” Amy sets him up on her shoulder to watch Karma like she always had a habit of doing herself.  
Amy looked over to the little blue fellow and could have sworn that she had seen him blush and nod.


	4. Domestic AU

“Amy! What’s going on? Why are you yelling?” Karma asks worriedly as she busts into the office where her wife had been working.  
“I’m done. I can’t believe that I’ve actually done it. I finished our book!” Amy’s chair has fallen from where she stood up so quickly. She grabbed their toddler son from Karma and danced around the room with him, making him laugh with excitement.  
“Does that mean that I finally get to read it?” Karma asks, a sparkle in her eyes.  
“If you really want to.” Amy says with a shrug and a blush. “It’s not as though you weren’t there for the vast majority of it.”  
“I just want to read it in the same that you actually experienced it.” Karma replies, kissing Amy’s cheek. “Some parts will make a great bedtime story for the kids.”  
“Are you sure that that’s true? A whole lot of our story isn’t exactly rated G.” Amy quirks an eyebrow.  
“I can edit it as I go.” Karma laughs. “You like it when your mommies read to you, don’t you?” she asks the child chasing the mites in the sunlight.  
He turns and smiles Karma’s smile right at Amy who melts for her immediately.  
“Fine, but he had better not be cursing by the time that you’re done.” Amy teases, excusing herself before heading out to call her publisher while Karma put the kid to bed.


	5. Presumed Dead

It was their senior class trip to Colorado. Amy and Karma had been a real couple for the past six months and everything had been good between them. It was supposed to be the best trip of their lives. Everything seemed to be going that way too, Karma and Amy were roomed together, the roller-coasters were great, and Amy had won Karma a stuffed Tweety-Bird at one of the games at the Winter Carnival. Though none of the Texans actually knew how to ski, they very much enjoyed the snow and looked forward to the hike set up for the next day.  
“Morning Karma, it’s time to put your walking shoes on.” Amy wakes up her girlfriend by kissing her on the cheek. Amy loved to wake Karma up and already have a mug of tea or cocoa waiting on her.  
“You really are the sweetest.” Karma tells her, a sleepy smile on her face.  
“I do my best. Are you excited to go hiking?” Amy asks as though she wasn’t the kind of person who wouldn’t really rather be at home. She sits down beside of Karma who snuggles in closer to her.  
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be great.” Karma says with a happy grin.  
“Good, me too.” Amy agrees even though she fiercely feels as though something bad is about to happen.  
“Liar, you would rather stick your foot into a meat-grinder.” Karma laughs, kissing Amy chastely.  
“Well, yeah, but you’re going to be then. It can’t be that bad.” Amy says, looking at Karma like the sun shone out of her every orifice. Karma loved it when Amy looked at her like that, though she had never felt as though she deserved it.  
“I guess not.” Karma smiles back as she drains the last few dregs of her tea, and stands to get dressed. “I am quite charming, really.”  
“Oh, of course you are.” Amy teased back “And I brought my video camera with me, so I might be able to get some good film.”  
“As long as you don’t point that thing at me, we’re good to go.” Karma laughs around her toothbrush.  
“I make no promises.” Amy laughs, she really enjoys pointing her camera at Karma. She loves that laugh. She really couldn’t imagine that she had been so completely unaware of how in love with Amy she had been. It was ridiculous, really. Still, Karma caught herself staring at or just watching Amy from across the room, generally forgetting about whatever she had been doing. People usually thought that that was pretty cute.  
“Are you ready?” Amy herself asks as she pokes her head around the corner into the bathroom.  
“Just about.” Karma answers, lacing up the the pink hiking boots that Amy had bought her special for the trip. She skips up to the girlfriend and looped their arms together the same way that she had since they were little kids.  
“Let’s go then.” Amy laughs, leaning over to kiss Karma’s cheek and tug on a lock of her hair.  
\-----/////-----  
“I...hate...the outside.” Amy pants as her feet hit the rock in front of her again.  
“I know you do, honey. It’ll be over in another hour or so.” Karma says sympathetically.  
“If she says that again, I am going to shove Amy Raudenfield off the side of this mountain.” shane hisses from ahead of them. About 25 minutes into the hike, he had pulled off his tank-top and tied it around his head like a bandana. He was getting a serious sunburn, but he had yet to break a sweat. Shane turns around and jumps up and onto another boulder.  
“Are you going to make it?” Karma asks, looking mildly concerned.  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Go ahead and run ahead with Shane. I’m going to set a few shots up before I catch up with you.” Amy says in between gasps for air. “I’ll be fine, I promise.” Amy gives her girlfriend a look that plainly says ‘I’m doing you a favor, take it.’ She swings her camera off of her shoulder and sets up her tripod to overlook the pass. Karma can’t tell where everything is coming from, but it’s no wonder that Amy was struggling. She had to have been carrying fifteen pounds of equipment with her.  
“You sure?” Karma asks just to be cautious.  
“Of course. Now, run along before I decide to make you the star of a music video.” Amy threatens.  
“Alright, I love you, see you in a couple okay?” Karma tightens her laces before hopping up a cliff face to join Shane. Amy hadn’t realized how much she had been holding the group back.  
“Yeah, see you.” Amy mutters as she peers through her lens and plugs headphones into her ears. The chill ran through her despite her multiple layers of jackets and sweaters. However, as the woman behind the camera, she was forced to admit that the area was truly beautiful and it was really nice to watch Karma enjoy the snow sculpture competition and maybe the snowball fight, just so long as she didn’t end up taking any to the face. Mostly though, Amy was just looking forward to going home to Texas. As big of a fan of adventure that she was, Amy didn’t much like the cold. She didlike the excuse to cuddle Karma though.  
“Hey, Amy! Look up here!” she hears a shouting voice echo from the distance. Amy turns quickly on her heel to look around and up, slipping a little bit but catching herself on the little dead tree beside of herself.  
“You okay?!’ Karma shouts worriedly. Amy can barely see her as a little pink dot on the mountaintop.  
“I’m fi…!” Amy started before the edge of root that she had been standing on top of ripped free from the hard, cold, and dry earth and crumbled beneath her. Karma could hear the scream quite clearly before she realized that her own was mingled with it and echoed by Shane’s own shout of fear.  
Karma watched in horror for a half of a minute before taking off down the path that they had just come up as quickly as her stiffened and cold limbs would take her. She was a yard ahead of the pack already before Felix and Liam each grabbed an arm to stop her. She struggled a moment before looking up to see why in the hell they would have tried to hold her back from getting to Amy as quickly as she possibly could.  
“Let me go.” she growled fiercely.  
“Stop, Karma. Stop. There is no way that she could have survived that fall. You know that.” Felix says as kindly as he possibly can.  
“No, I don’t. I need to go find her, she’s probably hurt.” Karma protests, choking back her sobs. “Let me go.” she growls at the two boys.  
“We can all go together. Amy is my friend too.” Shane suggests, knowing that Karma would be going after Amy no matter what anyone said. He also knew that AMy would never forgive him if he ever allowed anything to happen to Karma.  
“Okay, just don’t hold me back.” Karma shrugs free of Liam’s grasp and scrambles down the mountain wall. The boys glance to one another with fear in their eyes before following.  
\-----/////------  
Amy woke up and she wasn’t quite so cold anymore, but she was very sore and didn’t know where she was. She sat up too quickly and was forced to empty her stomach into the snow beside of where she had fallen. She looked up and saw shreds of her jackets, sweaters, and even hair hanging from the branches of the tree that had broken her fall. Her entire body ached, she was bleeding from several different places, and she was getting worried because she wasn’t cold at all.  
Luckily, Amy’s cracked cell phone still showed the time despite not having any signal at all. She had been lying there in the snow for the past half hour. Another cursory glance around revealed bits and pieces of Amy’s camera equipment lying around. At least this would give a search party an idea of where she was. Even if Amy wasn’t going to make it out of this situation alive, she was glad that at least her frozen body would still be found for the funeral, or what was left of it after the scavengers were done.   
“Hey, uh, Karma, if you find this, then I’m probably dead, because we both know that I’m not one for that sort of thing.” Amy turned her mostly still operational video camera onto herself.   
“I just want you to know that I love you. I love you so much and I am so sorry that I am going to put you all through this. Tell my mom and dad that I love them both, even Lauren and her father too. Tell Lauren that blood or not I love her and she is a great sister. Thank Shane for being a great friend and for helping me to accept and love myself for who I am. Thank Reagan, too, for being my second great love. Still, it is you, Karma, that I am fighting to live for. Even if I only get to see you one more time.” Amy sighed heavily and shut the camera before forcing herself to stand and hang it by the stars from the tree.  
Her left ankle wasn’t taking her weight well and Amy was pretty sure that a bit of bone was poking through the skin there, so she pulled herself up into the same tree that had saved her life, huddled in close to the trunk and prayed that somebody might save her.  
\-----/////------  
Karma nearly broke down when she saw the toppled tripod where Amy had been standing and filming. Shane got as close as he dared to the edge with Felix and looked over and out for Amy while Liam hung back awkwardly to keep an eye on Karam and make sure that she didn’t hatch any crazy plans. Shane was trying to find her body out in the snow but he couldn’t . They had seen her fall and it had been right from the spot where they stood. Based off of her trajectory, she should have landed right where he was looking.  
“I see lots of blood stained snow and broken electronics but no Amy.” Felix says, looking through binoculars.  
“There’s even a bare patch of ground underneath the tree. You don’t think that she could have gotten up and walked away do you? If the tree broke her fall...it might be possible.” Felix thought aloud, hope tinting into his voice.  
“We have to get down there somehow and find out for sure.” Shane decides, zipping up his jacket, a hard and determined look on his face now. It made the normally fun-loving and laid-back almost unrecognizable. “Give me your ropes.” he orders.  
Everyone drops their bags and starts to hand Shane everything that he asked for. By the time the five bags of rope and carabiners were put together, he had formed a halfway decent rope ladder.  
“This should get you down to the tree, and you can climb that the rest of the way into the ravine. We will be right behind you.’ Shane instructs, looking more serious than anyone had ever seen before. “Be careful.”  
Karma nods in response and heads down the ladder much more quickly than she did carefully. She couldn’t convince herself to look down, she was afraid of what she might see. Karma wasn’t sure of what she would do if she didn’t find Amy alive. She had never been away from Amy for more than a few days before and their worlds had always revolved around one another’s . Karma wasn’t sure that she wanted to live in a world that didn’t have Amy in it. Her boots drop to the snow and the first thing to catch Karma’s eye was Amy’s camera, hanging carefully and purposefully from a tree branch. She plucked it off and slung it around her own neck. Past it she saw Amy, bloodied and bruised, unconscious against the trunk.  
Immediately she lets the camera fall to the back against her chest, forgotten and runs to Amy, pressing her fingers to her throat to find a pulse, weak and thready, but still there. A thrill of hope, finally realized, ran through her entire body like fire. Karma took a deep breath and checked Amy over from head to toe. Her lips, her finger, and feet were all blue form the cold, and she was scarily pale. A piece of bloody white bone pked out form her ankle, the scariest of Amy’s visible injuries.  
Unsure of what to do, Karma climbed the tree and a part of the way up the ladder.  
“She’s down here and she’s alive for now, but she’s hurt bad and frostbitten. Call somebody, radio somebody, do whatever you have to do, but she needs help as soon as possible. I’m staying here until someone comes.” Karma shouts before scrambling back down before anyone can protest. She opens up her jacket and pulls it off, wrapping it around Amy like a blanket. Karma pushes Amy up form the tree and slides in behind her to share her body heat.  
“It’s all going to be okay, my love. I swear it.” Karma promises, pressing a kiss to her blonde hair. It’s then that she notices that a red light has been flashing on the video camera.  
“What did you do?” Karma asks Amy, knowing fully that she will receive no response as she pulls the camera out form around her neck and wraps her arms back around Amy after hitting play. EMT’s and National Guardsmen arrive only ten minutes later, the video having played on repeat until the battery died, to find Karma, still holding Amy tight and crying into her jacket.

\-----/////-----

“But girls were really quite brilliant and resourceful. The young men, too.” Karma could hear a doctor saying.  
“It was almost as though they knew, just by pure instinct, what to do. The redhead with the toboggan mittens and sharing her body heat. The way the blonde knew to get up and out of the now. It was quite ingenious.”  
“Ignore them.” Liam advises.  
“I heard that they’re together.” the other doctor adds.  
“They have names!” Shane stands up and shouts. “They have names and they are so much more than their sexualities! That is the absolute least interesting thing about them and I’m tired of it being all that anyone notices.” he is red-faced, angry, and crying, but it’s plain that the yelling is only happening because he is so scared.  
“Shane, sit down buddy. It’s okay.” Liam says.  
“No, it’s really not.” Felix protests. “They shouldn’t be saying those things, especially not where Karma can hear. Our friend is past those doors, fighting for her life. Can’t you at least let us worry in peace?” Karma leans into Shane’s side doing her best to calm down and breathe deeply. At some point either Liam or Felix brings them hot chocolate and much later Amy’s mother, step-father, and Lauren arrives. Karma cries so hard into Amy’s step-sister’s shoulder that it sounded like she might make herself sick.  
“There’s something that you need to see.” Karma says later when she is much more calm. She sticks one shaking hand down her jacket pocket and comes out with Amy’s dented Gopro. “I know that she isn’t gone, but she made you feel better.” Karma handed the device to a distraught looking Lauren and headed to the bathroom. She sat on the floor, quoting the video all of the way through twice in her mind’s eye twice before she felt strong enough to rejoining the others.  
She reenters the waiting room to the embrace of Amy’s mother. They hug for a long time, enjoying the comfort of one another’s presence, and their shared love of Amy. Lauren sits in a chair off a ways, glaring at a wall. Her gaze could bore a hole into it if she really tried. She and her step-sister had just gotten to a place where they were okay with one another. Karma couldn’t help but to think that now they might never get to be friends as well as siblings. Karma sat down beside of her and put an arm around her shoulders.  
Almost as soon as she did a doctor entered the waiting room to tell them that Amy was conscious, but would be needing a moment to rest. Lauren turned her head into Karma’s chest and cried with relief. Shane and Felix even shed tears as well. School administration came by three different times to try and drag their students back, but every time they were met by a strong wall of defiance on all counts. No one could have dragged Karma away. She was going to be right there when Amy woke up.

\-----/////----  
As soon as AMy was awake enough to take visitors, Karma was in line behind Amy’s parents. She was so incredibly relieved that she was worried that her knees might be about to give out. It was one of the sweetest things that she had ever felt. As soon as it was her turn to go in, the tears began to fall again.  
“Oh, Karma Ashcroft.” Amy murmurs from cracked lips that had finally gone back to their normal color.  
“You scared the fucking shit out of me.” Karma cries, sitting down beside of her.  
“I figured as much. I scared myself pretty badly too. I was sure that i was going to die.” Amy admits. “I love you though, and I wasn’t going to die without another kiss. You never think that your last kiss will be your last do you? Ours wasn’t our best.” her voice is hoarse as though she had been screaming at length.   
“You aren’t dead though, and we are going to be having plenty more kisses. I can promise you that.” Karma laughs through her tears, her bruised hands cupping Amy’s cheeks. She kisses her softly a few times before returning to her seat.  
“Oh, Karma, I’m counting on that.” Amy smiles weakly before falling asleep again.


	6. Turning Off the Wi-Fi

“Amy, this is supposed to be a sleepover. Why aren’t you doing anything but trolling Tumblr?” Karma asks.

“I have yet to come up with any ideas for something better to do.” Amy mumbles,biting her lip.

“We could braid each other’s hair, paint our nails, make friendship bracelets?” Karma rattles off the old sleepover favorites.

“We have done all of those things thousands of times before, Karma.” Amy groans, rolling over onto her back to stare at the ceiling.

“You know what? I know how to fix this.” Karma jumps off of the bed and races downstairs. She finds the correct cord that she wants and pills. “I win.” she mutters to herself. But the time that she gets back, Amy is pounding on the refresh button of her laptop. gently, Karma shuts the lid on her and puts the computer on Amy’s desk.

“Now are you ready to pay attention to me?” Karma asks, she sticks her hands under Amy’s side and rolls her over onto her back. Karma puts one knee on each side of Amy’s waist and pulls off her shirt. 

“Um...yeah.” Amy replies, wide eyed and most of the way to drooling.


	7. Meet In Your Dreams

You curl up in bed and focus on Amy. You can see in your mind the freckles on her skin, the light reflecting off of her hair, and smell her near you. It’s almost as though she is really there, and then she is.

“You went to bed early.” Amy comments.

“And you seem to always be fast asleep.” You snort.

“Sleep is good for you.” you notice the half smile on her face.

“If you say so. How was your day? I didn’t see you much.” You add.

“Not much happened. I went to classes, ate lunch, went to classes and came home for a couple of documentaries before bed.” she shrugs and you roll your eyes.

“Boring. You should have had me over to entertain you.” you say in mock frustration.

“It wasn’t boring to me.” she pouts and you step forward to kiss the look off of her face.

“Sure it wasn’t, but I’m a lot more fun.” you laugh against her mouth.

“I knew that I would see you tonight. You never let me down.” Amy admits. “Being soulmates is nice. We have spent our entire lives together, but nothing has ever been as good or as peaceful as this is. No chance of interruptions.”

She kisses you and you melt against her, wondering how you could ever have thought that anyone else could possibly have been your soulmate. When you kiss you feel like your entire body could float completely away. You fit together perfectly, even in dreams.


	8. Music in the Car

“Amy? Turn that up, it’s my jam!” Karma bellows form the passenger’s seat as Amy drives. She does as she is asked to, but has no idea of why Karma is thinking that it’s a good idea to be dancing like she is. Everyone knows that there is no way that you could possibly make car dancing look good.  
She wants to tell Karma to stop, but her best friend looks like she is having such a good time that she doesn’t . there had been so much drama going down at Hester High as of late that Karma deserved to get to let her hair down every now and then. Amy almost wished that she were the kind of person that could just let loose like that as well. She smiles affectionately at Karma who is oblivious to Amy’s observing her before turning back to the road, feeling much more prepared for whatever new and fresh hell might be awaiting the two of them in their high-school.


	9. Pussy Explosion

Amy had been gone for only a week, but it felt like ages to Karma. Her life-guarding job helped to distract her a little bit, but the loss of her best friend for such a long time was killing her. They texted regularly but Amy had drawn lines in the sand, she had gone on the tour for a reason. Still, it wasn’t enough for Karma.. She blamed herself. She felt like she was being punished, though she couldn’t even remember the incident for which she was being punished.

She knew that she should have never gotten drunk. She missed Amy with a constant ache in her chest to the point that even Shane could see. He was almost about to worry. Not that he actually cared at all. Everyone knew that he and Karma couldn’t stand one another. All they had in common was Amy Raudenfield, but she was on tour with Pussy Explosion and no longer there to mediate.

“Girl, you need to get over this whole co-dependence nonsense. You’re going to get worry lines. The whole point of this vacation is for Amy to get over you. Give her her space.” he finally says as they start to change clothes for work.

“I’m not co-dependant. I just miss my best friend a lot.”

“It’s your fault that she is gone in the first place. Let her do her thing. You do you. Give it time.” he argues.

“I know, okay! I get it! I screwed up and ruined everything. I can’t help it that I miss her anyway.” Karma’s face goes red and she looks like she might cry.

“Well, I’m thinking that you might need to think about why that is while she’s gone.” he suggests and Karma feels more confused than she ever did before.


	10. Save Your Life

You know that it’s going to break Karma’s heart, but you are also quite sure that this is the only way. You would never let her get hurt on your watch. You have been protecting her since you were small. The two of you have gotten older now and the few particular dynamics of their relationship had changed, but this… this never would.

You couldn’t believe that your father would let this happen. Then, you took a deep breath and you could. He was irresponsible and childish. He took too many risks and now you and everyone that you care about is in danger. The only solution that you and your father could come up with was for the two of you to run away together, alone, to somewhere that no one could ever find you. That meant leaving behind Shane, your step-sister, and your mother, even Karma.

You don’t plan on actually telling anyone, but you end up asking Karma to meet you in the park where you used to play anyway. You kiss her on the swings underneath the stars until you can’t even think anymore. You don’t stop until she notices your tears. She asks you what’s wrong and you feel like you don’t remember how to breathe.

Her pain is like a stab to your chest as she gasps your name and clutches at your shirt. You stand stoically, trying not t feel, trying to be brave. You tell her that you wish that there was any other way. You don’t look back when you walk away. You leave her there crying. You ignore your own heart breaking.


	11. Late Night Jokes

Amy was in bed alone, fearing the next day of school when she would have to face the world again. She didn’t want to go. As much as she loved Karma Ashcroft, Amy hated the idea of seeing her the next day, and the day after that. They were best friends, but there was still so much more underneath. Amy and Karma had so much baggage Amy didn’t know if they would ever be able to climb their way out of it. Amy was certain she would never be the same.

She fell back into her pillows, tossing the framed photo of both of them across the room onto a blanket where she knew it wouldn’t break. Amy could remember their last sleepover before everything went to hell. Back then, she wasn’t worried about how or why she touched Karma and they had been very physically affectionate friends from the very beginning. Amy would try to take over the Netflix account and Karma would tell the worst jokes in the middle of the night out of nowhere. Amy would find herself laughing harder than she could have ever imagined. 

Losing their closeness was so painful. The hurt amplified with every Karma sighting. She loved Karma but the other girl hurt her more than she helped lately. It wasn’t at all purposeful, but Amy couldn’t say anything and Karma didn’t know that she was hurting the other girl at all. It was an impossible situation.

Even as she thought back to the most hurtful moments and the most wonderful, Amy weighed them. She couldn’t imagine what her life would have been like without Karma Ashcroft. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. All in all, Amy was still grateful. She wouldn’t trade Karma for the world. She wouldn’t give up a single moment. If they ended up going their separate ways, then Amy figured this might be the last she would see of Karma anyway. No matter the pain, she decided then and there to treasure each remaining moment.


End file.
